How to become a world-class tester?
Want to become a world-famous tester? Then ask how to do it, from a person who has already reached such heights. On April 20, Moscow will host a training course for one of the most well-known software testing experts in the world, Michael Bolton , who has 25 years of successful work in this field.
On the eve of his Moscow visit, Michael Bolton gave an exclusive interview and told about the myths that exist in the field of software testing and why it is important to perceive them correctly, and also touched on what awaits participants in the training “ Critical Thinking for Testers ”, which will be held 20 April in Moscow.
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What myths exist in the field of testing and why is it important to dispel them?
One of the most serious myths is that testers are responsible for quality. This is not so: absolutely everyone who works on the product is responsible for the quality. It is even more correct to say that other participants in the process lay the quality, while testers do not. After all, we do not manage the source code, directories, product scope, budget, hiring, firing of responsible persons, contracts with customers and so on. Testers have a different role: we are responsible for identifying potential threats to quality. I wrote about it in detail here: http://www.developsense.com/blog/2010/05/testers-get-out-of-the-quality-assurance-business/ .
Another myth is that testing is all about tests. My colleagues James Bach and Adam Hodder recently published a very curious criticism of this conclusion: “Tests are not testing: on the way to a performance testing culture” from the authors James Bach and Aaron Hodder (the book can be downloaded at http: //www.testingcircus. com / documents / TestingTrapeze-2014-February.pdf ).
The third myth: testing a product means checking “to be sure” whether the desired results have been achieved. But testing for us is a versatile assessment of the product with the help of special experiments. James Bach and I already wrote about this: http://www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/856 .
There are many other myths. True, at the same time, there are already problems with excessive debunking them. After all, to "challenge the myth", testers, programmers and managers require a deep understanding of the specifics of testing, a serious attitude to experiments and possession of critical thinking. And on this need to work. I admire people who are ready to do this: to think seriously about how and what we know about the products we develop.
There are also myths about research testing. I described some of them, and everyone can find out more about it just by typing the search query “What Exploratory Testing Is Not” (you can try first in Russian: “What is not research testing”).
Dispelling myths is quite important, because we have to adequately understand that through testing it is possible to perform and what cannot. After all, testers can only guarantee the quality of their work, their research. And no research in the world will make the product better until people learn how to properly understand and use what testing is actually capable of.
What are the main qualities of a good tester? What are “anti-qualities”?
There are many important qualities for testers, but, I think, most importantly, curiosity: “What is this thing that I am testing? What is it for? Who will use it? How to better understand the user and what his attitude to the product? ".
In testing there is one great thing - it requires all sorts of skills, which means that a large number of completely different people can make a valuable contribution to the work on the product. We need people with scientific and systems thinking, people who know how to write and talk about the product and about testing. Mathematicians, sociologists, psychologists and even mothers are also required, because the software is used by very different people in very different fields and situations, and errors can be in completely different elements of the product.
Why is it so important for testers to have critical thinking and how to develop it?
Several years ago, I defined critical thinking as the ability to “think about things that are thought out with the goal of not being deceived.” It is very easy for people working on software development projects to convince themselves that the problem has been solved, because they seem to have developed some kind of solution — however, this is often just self-deception. They say "It works!" When in fact they mean "the product to some extent meets the desired requirements." But such a decision may have weaknesses, or it may itself become a real problem. To avoid this, critical thinking is necessary.
Critical thinking is a kind of self-inquiry: what do we think, what do we know. To come to him, you need habits that testers can develop in themselves. Try to add "if ...", "... until now", "... as well as ...", "... on the other hand ...", "... or maybe not" in your statements. For example, when someone says “This is X”, rephrase to “This is, perhaps, X” or “This may be X.” To be a tester is to be professionally insecure, to the extent that to remain insecure when everyone around is convinced of something 100%.
What should a tester learn and what to do to succeed?
The specifics of the tester's work is that we regularly test something new, because the software being researched is constantly changing. However, the general principles remain the same: we learn the details of things by experimenting on them, using and exploring them in various ways. Testing is a process that consists of research, discovery, research, and reporting. It is unchanged. At the same time, we constantly learn to describe our work and explain to others what we are doing and what we have learned. And I think it is precisely in this direction that development is necessary, especially for those professionals who seek to be understood.
Can I become a good tester without attending specialized trainings, conferences, etc.?
Without attending trainings and conferences, reading books and blog posts or interviews, as it is, of course, possible to become a good tester. But all these things can help achieve the goal faster and more efficiently, which is why I urge people to pay attention to them.
In this case, one should not forget that the key moment in the development of testers' skills is the development and practical application of testing skills. Be sure to immerse yourself in the culture, practice and values ​​of this area.
In addition, there are many great ideas that can be borrowed from the areas of related and not entirely from the field of testing: anthropology, mathematics, economics, statistics, history, literature, linguistics, analytics, programming, journalism, etc. Choose one or more of them and study. If you have already started such training, be sure to continue.
Why should anyone who works or wants to work as a tester, must necessarily attend your training in Moscow?
I plan to devote training in Moscow to critical thinking for testers. On it, I will talk about many nuances that can mislead people, some ways to identify them, and share some tips on how software testing specialists avoid self-deception and confusion for other people working on the project. This is important because, first of all, the tester should caution himself and others against an incorrect understanding of the product and, consequently, of an incorrect work process.
In addition, during my stay in Moscow as part of the SQA Days-15 conference, which will be held April 18-19, I will talk about the nature of the problems. Our main task as testers is to find problems, important problems that undermine the value of the product. But many experts believe that they are looking only for “defects” of the product in a rather narrow understanding of this concept - by this I am very concerned. For me, the concept of "problem" fits better, because the problem is the difference between what someone can perceive and what someone wants. In other words, defects are errors or non-working components that describe only some kinds of problems that people might encounter when working with software. Thinking about problems means thinking about the relationship between a person and software, which in a broader sense is a definite relationship between two people. Testers it is important to understand this and understand this.
Want to know more? You can ask Michael Bolton questions on April 20 during the eight-hour training entitled Critical Thinking for Testers, which will be held in Moscow. The cost of participation is 12,000 rubles, but it is still possible to use the available discounts ! Hurry up, there are quite a few free places - we recommend you to register now !
On the eve of his Moscow visit, Michael Bolton gave an exclusive interview and told about the myths that exist in the field of software testing and why it is important to perceive them correctly, and also touched on what awaits participants in the training “ Critical Thinking for Testers ”, which will be held 20 April in Moscow.
')
What myths exist in the field of testing and why is it important to dispel them?
One of the most serious myths is that testers are responsible for quality. This is not so: absolutely everyone who works on the product is responsible for the quality. It is even more correct to say that other participants in the process lay the quality, while testers do not. After all, we do not manage the source code, directories, product scope, budget, hiring, firing of responsible persons, contracts with customers and so on. Testers have a different role: we are responsible for identifying potential threats to quality. I wrote about it in detail here: http://www.developsense.com/blog/2010/05/testers-get-out-of-the-quality-assurance-business/ .
Another myth is that testing is all about tests. My colleagues James Bach and Adam Hodder recently published a very curious criticism of this conclusion: “Tests are not testing: on the way to a performance testing culture” from the authors James Bach and Aaron Hodder (the book can be downloaded at http: //www.testingcircus. com / documents / TestingTrapeze-2014-February.pdf ).
The third myth: testing a product means checking “to be sure” whether the desired results have been achieved. But testing for us is a versatile assessment of the product with the help of special experiments. James Bach and I already wrote about this: http://www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/856 .
There are many other myths. True, at the same time, there are already problems with excessive debunking them. After all, to "challenge the myth", testers, programmers and managers require a deep understanding of the specifics of testing, a serious attitude to experiments and possession of critical thinking. And on this need to work. I admire people who are ready to do this: to think seriously about how and what we know about the products we develop.
There are also myths about research testing. I described some of them, and everyone can find out more about it just by typing the search query “What Exploratory Testing Is Not” (you can try first in Russian: “What is not research testing”).
Dispelling myths is quite important, because we have to adequately understand that through testing it is possible to perform and what cannot. After all, testers can only guarantee the quality of their work, their research. And no research in the world will make the product better until people learn how to properly understand and use what testing is actually capable of.
What are the main qualities of a good tester? What are “anti-qualities”?
There are many important qualities for testers, but, I think, most importantly, curiosity: “What is this thing that I am testing? What is it for? Who will use it? How to better understand the user and what his attitude to the product? ".
In testing there is one great thing - it requires all sorts of skills, which means that a large number of completely different people can make a valuable contribution to the work on the product. We need people with scientific and systems thinking, people who know how to write and talk about the product and about testing. Mathematicians, sociologists, psychologists and even mothers are also required, because the software is used by very different people in very different fields and situations, and errors can be in completely different elements of the product.
Why is it so important for testers to have critical thinking and how to develop it?
Several years ago, I defined critical thinking as the ability to “think about things that are thought out with the goal of not being deceived.” It is very easy for people working on software development projects to convince themselves that the problem has been solved, because they seem to have developed some kind of solution — however, this is often just self-deception. They say "It works!" When in fact they mean "the product to some extent meets the desired requirements." But such a decision may have weaknesses, or it may itself become a real problem. To avoid this, critical thinking is necessary.
Critical thinking is a kind of self-inquiry: what do we think, what do we know. To come to him, you need habits that testers can develop in themselves. Try to add "if ...", "... until now", "... as well as ...", "... on the other hand ...", "... or maybe not" in your statements. For example, when someone says “This is X”, rephrase to “This is, perhaps, X” or “This may be X.” To be a tester is to be professionally insecure, to the extent that to remain insecure when everyone around is convinced of something 100%.
What should a tester learn and what to do to succeed?
The specifics of the tester's work is that we regularly test something new, because the software being researched is constantly changing. However, the general principles remain the same: we learn the details of things by experimenting on them, using and exploring them in various ways. Testing is a process that consists of research, discovery, research, and reporting. It is unchanged. At the same time, we constantly learn to describe our work and explain to others what we are doing and what we have learned. And I think it is precisely in this direction that development is necessary, especially for those professionals who seek to be understood.
Can I become a good tester without attending specialized trainings, conferences, etc.?
Without attending trainings and conferences, reading books and blog posts or interviews, as it is, of course, possible to become a good tester. But all these things can help achieve the goal faster and more efficiently, which is why I urge people to pay attention to them.
In this case, one should not forget that the key moment in the development of testers' skills is the development and practical application of testing skills. Be sure to immerse yourself in the culture, practice and values ​​of this area.
In addition, there are many great ideas that can be borrowed from the areas of related and not entirely from the field of testing: anthropology, mathematics, economics, statistics, history, literature, linguistics, analytics, programming, journalism, etc. Choose one or more of them and study. If you have already started such training, be sure to continue.
Why should anyone who works or wants to work as a tester, must necessarily attend your training in Moscow?
I plan to devote training in Moscow to critical thinking for testers. On it, I will talk about many nuances that can mislead people, some ways to identify them, and share some tips on how software testing specialists avoid self-deception and confusion for other people working on the project. This is important because, first of all, the tester should caution himself and others against an incorrect understanding of the product and, consequently, of an incorrect work process.
In addition, during my stay in Moscow as part of the SQA Days-15 conference, which will be held April 18-19, I will talk about the nature of the problems. Our main task as testers is to find problems, important problems that undermine the value of the product. But many experts believe that they are looking only for “defects” of the product in a rather narrow understanding of this concept - by this I am very concerned. For me, the concept of "problem" fits better, because the problem is the difference between what someone can perceive and what someone wants. In other words, defects are errors or non-working components that describe only some kinds of problems that people might encounter when working with software. Thinking about problems means thinking about the relationship between a person and software, which in a broader sense is a definite relationship between two people. Testers it is important to understand this and understand this.
Want to know more? You can ask Michael Bolton questions on April 20 during the eight-hour training entitled Critical Thinking for Testers, which will be held in Moscow. The cost of participation is 12,000 rubles, but it is still possible to use the available discounts ! Hurry up, there are quite a few free places - we recommend you to register now !
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/218135/
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